How Casper Ruud could get opportunity to play at the ATP Finals after Novak Djokovic withdraws

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The ATP Finals get underway in Turin, but Novak Djokovic won’t be taking part in the event after he made the decision to withdraw.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will be the two men taking on the role of favourites to win the title, with the world’s top players gathering in Turin for the final event of the year.

Novak Djokovic praised Lorenzo Musetti after beating him in Athens to initially deny the Italian a place at the ATP Finals in Turin.

However, Musetti was advised by Djokovic after the match that he should pack his rackets and head to Italy, with the Serbian ruled out with a shoulder problem.

Alexander Bublik is the first alternative after he finished 10th in the list, with Casper Ruud now the latest player to make his way to Turin for the event.

• READ MORE: Novak Djokovic hails ‘amazing’ Lorenzo Musetti

How Casper Ruud could get the opportunity to play in the ATP Finals

Ruud won the Stockholm Open recently and then followed that up by making the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters in the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the year.

Now, with Djokovic already pulling out, Ruud will become the second alternative after Bublik and will get the nod to play should anyone pull out and the first reserve be unable to play.

This situation occurred in the WTA Finals recently, with Ekaterina Alexandrova facing Elena Rybakina after Madison Keys pulled out, and the first reserve, Mirra Andreeva, was unable to play.

Ruud might be disappointed to have missed out on a place in the event outright, and being around the event can only inspire him to go one further next year.

Casper Ruud’s record at the ATP Finals

Ruud is a seasoned performer when it comes to the end-of-year event, having played the competition three times previously during his career.

He qualified last year and qualified from his group with wins over Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev before losing to Sinner in the semifinals of the tournament.

In 2022, he went all the way to the final of the tournament but lost in straight sets to Djokovic, who has won the ATP Finals on seven occasions.

Given that Ben Shelton has only recently returned from injury and Zverev was struggling with an ankle problem in Paris, there is every possibility that Ruud might get the nod to play at least one match.

If he doesn’t, it will almost certainly get Ruud in the right frame of mind for next year, when the former world number two will hope to start showing the consistencies that have seen him reach three Grand Slam finals in his career.